How to Mount Windows Folder into VMware ESXi

In this article we will take a look on how to connect a network folder from Windows 2012 R2 Server as a datastore on the VMware ESXi host and use it to store files of your virtual machines (VMs) or ISO images. VMWare ESXi cannot work directly with Windows shares (over SMB protocol), so we have to use it in another way.

ESXi host can use 2 types of storages as a datastore:

Local disk or LUN from external storage device connected over Fibre Channel or iSCSI

Tip. NFS directory usage as a storage for VMWare VM’s files should be considered only for the test or non-critical production environment.

So, at first we first need to configure NFS share on Windows 2012 R2 and then connect it as a datastore on ESXi host. We already have a server with configured role File and Storage Services. To install NFS Server feature:

Open Server Manager console and select Manage -> Add Roles and Features

Tip. You can install Server for NFS Features even easier with a single Powershell command:

Add-WindowsFeature "FS-NFS-Service"

Next you need to create a new Windows directory that will be used as an NFS mount point. In this example we created folder c:\nfs , and it is not the best practice :).

Switch to the Server Manager console and go to File and Storage Services-> Shares. Run New Share Wizard (Tasks -> New Share) and then select NFS Share-Quick.

Specify share path and desired name. In this example we are using share name nfs. In this case, full NSF path (Remote path to share), that can be used on Unix environment looks like this: srv_fs01:/nfs